Celebration of Britten Centenary in the Americas

(October 2012)

Launch of Britten100 website offers audio, video, and performance details, all leading up to events during centenary celebration

The year 2013 marks the centenary of Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), one of the most celebrated cultural figures of the 20th century and remembered for his craftsmanship and versatility in works for opera and orchestra as well as songs and choral works. Ahead of the centenary date of November 22, 2013, the Britten-Pears Foundation has launched a new website (http://www.britten100.org) to serve as a hub for all information about the global celebration. The new site features video testimonials in honor of the composer, audio samples of his works, listings of performances around the globe through the centenary year, biographical materials and other history about the composer and his life.

The centenary celebration will feature over 1,200 performances in more than 140 cities around the world of Britten’s iconic and everlasting works through the 2013–14 season. In the United States, hundreds of performances will take place among orchestras, opera companies and chamber music groups, ranging from large scale pieces (War Requiem, Sinfonia da Requiem), to concerto works (Violin Concerto, Cello Symphony), symphonic favorites (Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra) and operas (Turn of the Screw, Albert Herring and Noye’s Fludde). Staged and concert versions of the opera Peter Grimes will appear on stages ranging from Edmonton to Los Angeles to Bogotá, Colombia. Britten’s music will also be the subject of several music festivals, including the Britten Centennial Festival at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and The Juilliard School’s annual FOCUS! Festival, all in 2013. Additional Britten programming in New York City, including multiple events at Carnegie Hall, will be announced in early 2013. Britten’s music will also reach new audiences in new locations, such as Brazil’s capital of Brasília, which stages its first Britten opera in November 2012 with Albert Herring. Britten’s Billy Buddalso reaches Chile, with the territorial premiere of the opera at Santiago’s Teatro Municipal in August 2013. Performances for the 2013–14 season will be added a later date. A comprehensive online calendar of all performances is available on the Britten100 site: http://www.britten100.org/whats-going-on/events

In the United States, choirs performing works from Britten’s large choral oeuvre can join together in an online festival via YouTube. Courtesy of Hal Leonard, the online virtual choral festival is open to singers and choruses of all ages and ranges. More information can be found on Hal Leonard’s dedicated Britten centenary microsite: www.halleonard.com/britten